


Under and Over the Blue

by Thymolphthalein



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: APH Rare Pair Exchange, Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M, Nationverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 03:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17175011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thymolphthalein/pseuds/Thymolphthalein
Summary: Magic is blue, and the creatures of it are well camouflaged.





	Under and Over the Blue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caffinated_Story](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffinated_Story/gifts).



There were unspoken things in Norway and the Netherlands’s relationship: when they needed to buy more coffee; to knock before entering the bathroom; when to hold hands—when not. They revealed parts of their character over time, but never  _asked_. Or offered. Stuff like that. Simple things. 

One could imagine the Netherlands’s surprise when Norway offered to show him his world. 

Phrased any other way, the Netherlands would have turned Norway’s offer down. But Norway was a sly bastard, and “would you like to see my world?” was not something the Netherlands could deny. The Netherlands was blunt, stubborn, and truthful. 

(Norway knew this, of course, and took advantage of it. What else could one do, when both parties were stubborn to a fault?)

Norway offered his hand. Cool and fragile porcelain, it glinted in the sun. Lingered there. The Netherlands took it. A door half-opened. 

They were gone. 

Blue. It pressed down on him, open as the sea. The sky, and the vast expanse between them. Blurred together. Sapphire, cerulean, ultramarine, dripped through it, and pooled at his feet. Wisps clung to Norway.  _He_  knew this place, and for a frightful moment, the Netherlands felt as if he was intruding. 

With Norway’s slight smile, he relaxed. It was conformation: the Netherlands was welcome here. In a space between worlds, something that he never had imagined, a stranger was welcome. What a funny, uplifting thought. 

The Netherlands released Norway’s hands. His own were bigger, longer, darker; bruised and calloused. Norway’s were pale and slim. This was deception, much like how he looked like he could shatter. He was no regular human—no human at all. Even if he was, he had strength beyond his years. And magic. 

Mainly used for the  _absolutely terrifying_  purpose of not letting his coffee get cold. 

The Netherlands had never commented on it. It was just a thing that Norway could do. He had never felt as if he was missing out—some things he didn’t want to think of. He knew too well when Norway stared into his coffee, swirling it with his spoon, he should not ask. Silent comforting. 

But he hadn’t realised that it was a thing to be shared. Dipping blue around them, pooling between them. Humming, resounding like bells. It was beautiful. 

‘Well?’ His attention snapped back to Norway, wreathed in sapphire. 

‘You never said it would be this  _blue_.’ The Netherlands admitted. Norway almost laughed. The Netherlands took a handful and watched it gather between his fingers. ‘It feels alive.’ 

The tiny, innocent child inside him wanted to run lengths in it, swim with it, splash Norway. Erupt from it, crackling and giggling. It was probably the blue, showing him a desire. A silly, childish desire nonetheless. Norway had said magic was like that—showing you what you wanted. You couldn’t let it have the opposite, for fear that it wanted to torment you. 

‘Can you see them?’

The Netherlands looked around. Just him, Norway, and a whole lot more blue than encouraging.

‘Who?’

‘Be patient.’ Norway smiled again—with his eyes. A subtle gesture that the Netherlands couldn’t chalk down. Either Norway was the master of subtle, or it was magic. He’d face it: it was probably magic. It was so damn disconcerting with the blue reflecting off of his eyes. ‘Keep an open mind.’

Right. The Netherlands exhaled, slow. Wisps of smoke danced from his lips and weaved through the air. And then he realized: he hadn’t needed to breathe. Such an obvious thing.  _How had he missed it?_  What else had he missed? 

_Them_ , obviously. 

Who were they? Did it matter? The Netherlands needed to find them. Where  _were_  they? There!—at the end of his breath-smoke. A flicker. Something moved, scattering forwards. Then it vanished. Damn.

_Keep an open mind_.

The Netherlands pondered that.

Then he let go.

He the world wash over him, seeping into the depths of his mind. Blue flooded him.

He could  _feel_. 

He started small. His heartbeat, chasing down his veins and echoing in his head. Magic, prickling along his skin. Norway, standing opposite the him, magic pooling around him and clinging to his shadow. Then, the Netherlands cast his attention everywhere and nowhere. 

Flickers spun within and throughout the blue, under and over it. Shimmering, lazing from one space to the other, then dashing to the next. Drawn to Norway as moths to a flame. Shadows, almost. The Netherlands was missing something still. 

‘Flickers,’ he said, ‘shadows. Flitting and skating. Drawn to you.’

‘Do you know what they are?’ Another question. Baiting. 

‘No.’ The Netherlands paused, contemplating. ‘Are they magic?’

‘Not exactly.’ Norway crossed the distance between them.

‘Then what are they?’ The Netherlands was blunt. Blunt and stubborn and dense, dense as a non-Newtonian fluid. This was all new, all strange and new, and one couldn’t blame him for being stumped. Well, he wasn’t, but if he just thought for a moment he’d  _realize_. An idiot in—

‘Love,’ Norway said, like the word pained him. ‘Because they think we don’t realise it.’

‘Do they know what’s best for us?’ Lights flicked.

The shadows rippled, and pushed them together. Or perhaps it was the Netherlands, although he’d deny it. 

They kissed, and it was another of many firsts.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2018 APH Rarepair Exchange.   
> Sorry for the delay. 
> 
> Prompt: _Magic_  
>  Theme: _Under and Over the Blue (which was also a prompt)_   
> Theme interpretation: _What we seek is in the blue; all we need to do is reach out._


End file.
